Chapter Fifty: You Gave Me Panda Eyes, I'll Make You Look Like a Swine!

Chapter Fifty: You Gave Me a Black Eye, I’ll Give You a Pig’s Head!

After their previous separation, these vibrant young students cherished their time together all the more. Before, when each day’s military training ended, everyone would feel utterly exhausted, cursing the instructors for being ruthless and strict. Now, it seemed as if each of them had boundless energy. Without any prompting from the instructors, they raised their standards for themselves considerably.

“Charge for first place!” became their new motto.

After a day’s training, and singing the pre-meal song, the four roommates from Dorm 307 once again gathered in the second cafeteria.

“What a turn of fortune,” Liang Tao sighed. “Who would have thought Instructor Li would return? It shows the leaders of the unit still have some heart, listening to us common folk.”

“A pleasant surprise,” Li Yu added.

“Hey, actually, I was too embarrassed to tell you all, but I called that unit commander myself. I said, ‘Comrade Li Tieshu is a good man—we all like him. Please let him stay.’ And so, Instructor Li stayed.” Huaming boasted, chomping on a chicken wing.

Liang Tao burst out laughing. “Then why didn’t you just ask for a beautiful female instructor for us?”

Huaming paused, then said, “Right! Why didn’t I think of that?”

His performance was so earnest it was as if he truly had phoned the commander. The group collapsed in laughter. Huaming joined in, still gnawing on his chicken wing.

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Tang Zhong had already run three laps, but the girl still hadn’t appeared. This made him feel a touch of disappointment. Fortunately, Li Yu was following from a distance, unwavering in his loyalty—which made Tang Zhong feel even more dejected.

He knew the girl had twisted her ankle. A girl’s body is precious; even with medicine, she would need days to recover. Besides, he’d accidentally bruised her eye. Girls cherish their beauty; even if her leg healed, she wouldn’t show up looking like that.

So, Tang Zhong raced against himself—five laps, six, seven…

By the sixth lap, Li Yu was exhausted and sat on the steps to watch Tang Zhong run. After Tang Zhong finished fifteen laps, and did a few sets of frog jumps and one-handed push-ups, they went to the cafeteria for breakfast together.

At dawn, the sky was still gray. As they were eating, a gentle rain began to fall outside, then the wind rose, growing ever stronger. The rain turned torrential.

“Ahhh—!” someone shouted at the cafeteria door. They knew that with rain like this, there would be no military training today.

Even Tang Zhong felt pleased—finally, a day to rest.

The two rushed back through the rain, carrying breakfast for Huaming and Liang Tao. By the time they reached their dorm, they were completely soaked.

Sure enough, their counselor, Li Qiang, was going from room to room to deliver the no-training news. Every time he entered a dorm, a cheer erupted.

Li Qiang pushed open the door to Room 307 and smiled, “I’m sure you’ve already heard. With all that shouting—no training today. Get some good rest.”

“Yeah!” Huaming and Liang Tao shouted in unison.

Li Qiang pointed to Tang Zhong, “Come with me.”

Tang Zhong was puzzled but stood up and followed Li Qiang out.

“Mr. Li, is there something you need?” Tang Zhong asked.

“Are you free today?” Li Qiang smiled.

“I just heard about the cancelation. I haven’t made any plans.”

“Good. Go to the dean’s office. He wants to see you.”

“Alright.”

“Go now. Don’t keep him waiting,” Li Qiang reminded him. Thanks to this student, Li Qiang had a direct line to Dean Jiao Yuheng—a real opportunity for him. He was determined to handle whatever the dean asked.

“I’ll just shower and change first.”

“Fine. Don’t keep the dean waiting,” Li Qiang agreed.

Back in the dorm, Huaming asked urgently, “Second Brother, why did Mr. Li call you out?”

“He wants me at the dean’s office,” Tang Zhong replied.

“So, an audience with the dean himself?” Huaming relaxed. “Give him my regards.”

“Will do.” Tang Zhong smiled.

“Poor guy,” Liang Tao said ruefully. “I was just about to go buy a deck of cards so the four of us could play. Didn’t think you’d be called away again.”

“Buy the cards. I’ll be back soon.”

After showering and changing into dry clothes, Tang Zhong borrowed an umbrella from the next dorm and hurried toward the office building. The rain was so heavy even the umbrella couldn’t keep him dry. By the time he reached the lobby, his shoes and half his pant leg were soaked.

Standing at the dean’s office door, he knocked. Dean Jiao Yuheng’s voice came from inside, “Come in.”

Tang Zhong entered and saw a girl sitting at the large desk in front of Dean Jiao, her back to him. Her silhouette seemed familiar, but since she didn’t turn, he couldn’t see her face.

“Sir, you wanted to see me?” Tang Zhong asked with a smile.

“Yes,” Jiao Yuheng nodded, gesturing to the corner. “Put your umbrella in the stand. Come sit.”

Tang Zhong did so, then sat down in front of the dean.

“Dean, you wanted—wait, it’s you?” Tang Zhong looked at Jiao Nanxin in shock. “What are you doing here?”

Jiao Nanxin pursed her lips, unwilling to answer such a pointless question. If you can come, why can’t I?

“You two know each other?” Jiao Yuheng looked back and forth between them, puzzled. Last time Tang Zhong visited, Nanxin hadn’t come out—when had they met?

“We do,” Jiao Nanxin gritted her teeth. “Even if he turned to ashes, I’d recognize him. My leg injury and this black eye are both thanks to him—how could I not know him?”

Granddaughter?

Tang Zhong’s head began to ache.

The girl he’d given a black eye was actually Dean Jiao Yuheng’s granddaughter?

“What?” Jiao Yuheng’s face darkened with anger. “You’re the one who hurt our Nanxin? I was wondering who it was—you brat, how could you do that? Even if you don’t care about me, you shouldn’t hit a woman.”

Jiao Yuheng could tolerate many things, but never harm to his beloved granddaughter. When Nanxin came home like that, he’d asked her who did it, but she insisted she’d bumped into a door frame—an excuse that almost gave her grandmother high blood pressure.

“Dean, it’s a misunderstanding,” Tang Zhong said awkwardly. If he’d known this tough girl was the dean’s cherished granddaughter, he’d never have hit her in the eye—that’s just asking for trouble. If he’d punched her in the chest instead, would she have dared tell her grandfather?

Taking this as a valuable lesson, Tang Zhong swore to himself never to make such a rookie mistake again.

“What misunderstanding?” Jiao Yuheng was so angry he jumped from his chair. “You left her like this and call it a misunderstanding?”

“It really is,” Tang Zhong tried to explain. “At the time, I didn’t know she was your granddaughter—”

Bang!

Jiao Yuheng slammed his palm on the desk.

“So, if she’s not my granddaughter, it’s okay? Not my granddaughter, but someone else’s? I know you’re good in a fight, but you can’t go around hitting women! What, if I say something wrong, will you hit me too?”

Pfft—

Jiao Nanxin couldn’t hold back, laughing so hard she slapped her thigh. “Yes, Grandpa, he’s too dangerous. You’d better expel him. Otherwise, if you ever upset him, he might hit you too—and at your age, you couldn’t take it.”

“And you dare talk?” Jiao Yuheng turned to scold his granddaughter. “Why did Tang Zhong hit you and not anyone else? What did you do? Was he so bored he just beat you up for no reason?”

Nanxin rolled her eyes. “Whose side are you on, old man?”

“I’m on the side of justice!” Jiao Yuheng declared. “Tang Zhong, tell me what happened.”

Tang Zhong gave a wry smile. “Better let her tell it.”

“Nothing much to say,” Jiao Nanxin replied. “I challenged him to a fight. He said he didn’t know martial arts, but when I wasn’t looking, he punched me in the eye.”

Jiao Yuheng stared at Tang Zhong, thinking, this guy is such a brute, even resorting to cheap tricks?

“Dean, it’s not like that,” Tang Zhong quickly explained. “She wanted to spar. I said I didn’t know martial arts, and then she attacked me from behind. You know I’m sensitive to these things—when I heard the wind behind me, I spun around and punched—never thought it’d land right on her eye.”

“Where did you want to hit?” Jiao Nanxin glared at him.

“Would’ve been better to hit your hair,” Tang Zhong joked. “A student of the dean would never stoop to fighting a girl.”

“You—” Jiao Nanxin fumed. What did he mean by that?

He’d used her grandfather as a shield—implying that no matter what, the dean’s student wouldn’t hit a girl. If she argued, it’d be like saying her grandfather had poor judgment.

“Alright, enough,” Jiao Yuheng hurried to mediate as the two glared, poised for battle. “You didn’t know before, so you’re not to blame. But now you do—there’s to be no more of this. Tang Zhong is my student, Nanxin is my granddaughter. You must advance and retreat together, help each other. Tang Zhong, as the man, you should look after Nanxin.”

“Yes, sir,” Tang Zhong bowed his head.

“I don’t need his help,” Nanxin said angrily. “When I’m healed, we’ll fight again. You gave me a black eye, I’ll give you a pig’s head!”

(P.S. Third update. King of Fire—who will add fuel to the flames?)